For Immediate Release April 27, 2010
NYC’s Historic Society of Illustrators Receives First NEA Grant
The Society of Illustrators is proud to announce that they have received a $31,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth FY 2010 grant to support the creation of a new Summer Illustration Art Academy at their Museum of American Illustration. This project is a collaborative effort with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Afterschool Program and will provide intensive visual arts instruction to 100 at-risk youth ages 9-13 from the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan.
This is the first time the Society has applied for and received such a prestigious grant in its 109-year history as America's oldest nonprofit dedicated to the art and appreciation of illustration. They are one of 255 NEA Learning in the Arts awardees nationwide out of an applicant pool of 658.
The Summer Academy builds on the success of past Winter/Spring Academies offered with Parks & Recreation since 2001. This NEA grant will enable these partners to increase the number of students served and expand their outreach to youth from other vulnerable neighborhoods. The curriculum was developed in accordance with the NYS Learning Standards for the Visual Arts. Renowned Society illustrators will serve as teachers and mentors for these students and travel with them to various NYC cultural institutions that will be used as learning sites for the program.
About the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators, founded in 1901, is the oldest nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the art and appreciation of illustration in America. Prominent Society members have been Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell, among others. The Museum of American Illustration was established by the Society in 1981 and is located in the Society's vintage 1875 carriage house building in mid-town Manhattan. It is open to the public free of charge on Tuesday, 10am-8pm; Wednesday- Friday, 10am-5pm; and Saturday, 12-4pm. To learn more about the Museum and the Society, visit www.societyillustrators.org or contact Director Anelle Miller at 212-838-2560 or info@societyillustrators.org
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